Predictive Clustering Learning Algorithms for Stroke Patients Discharge Planning

Stroke patients discharge planning is a complex task that could be carried out by the use of a suitable decision support system. Such a platform should be based on unsupervised machine learning algorithms to reach the best results. More specifically, in this kind of prediction task clustering learning algorithms seem to perform better than the other unsupervised models. These algorithms are able to independently subdivide the treated clinical cases into groups, and they can serve to discover interesting correlations among the clinical variables taken into account and to improve the prediction accuracy of the treatment outcome. This work aims to compare the prediction accuracy of a particular clustering learning algorithm, the Growing Neural Gas, with the prediction accuracy of other supervised and unsupervised algorithms used in stroke patients discharge planning. This machine learning model is also able to accurately identify the input space topology. In other words it is characterized by the ability to independently select a subset of attributes to be taken into consideration in order to correctly perform any predictive task.